BRITISH COLUMBIA LOOKOUTS
OLD GLORY
Kootenay Boundary
October 25, 1944: "The lookout's job is usually considered very lonely, especially in British Columbia where only trails are available as a means of access. Of course in the U.S. most lookouts are serviced by truck trails so that establishment of a family on a lookout there is by no means novel. Old Glory Lookout, elevation 7,800', is situated near Rossland. The nearest car road is a good five miles by trail but Wilfred Gibbard, lookoutman for the past seven seasons, is not a lonely lookoutman. His first year on the lookout was his honeymoon and he now has a fine little daughter who has completed her fourth summer on the lookout with her family. She was taken up to the lookout as a two month old baby on a pack board by her father. As usual water and fuel are a problem but Wilfred Gibbard overcame this by acquiring a horse which he keeps at the lookout during the season and is so able to make his return trips to the water hole, and fuel supply, regularly with little effort on his part other than hiking back while the horse takes the load. Mrs. Gibbard is a competent lookout while he is on these trips early each morning. Grazing near the top of the mountain is sufficient to keep the horse under normal conditions, but this is augmented with some hay and oats as required. A small stable, and it looks more like a root house, has been constructed for the horse for stormy weather. There are a number of other cases throughout the Province, some of them in this District, where families are living on lookouts but the manning of Old Glory is proof that efficiency and comfort can be combined on a lookout.
It is a good many years since we have seen a 'Jumping Jack' as held by Darlene, so if you want a plan of it so you can make one for your own family, and no doubt you will play with it most of the time yourself, drop a note to the Nelson office and we will send you a copy of the diagram Wilfred Gibbard gave us." (Forest Branch News Letter)
It is a good many years since we have seen a 'Jumping Jack' as held by Darlene, so if you want a plan of it so you can make one for your own family, and no doubt you will play with it most of the time yourself, drop a note to the Nelson office and we will send you a copy of the diagram Wilfred Gibbard gave us." (Forest Branch News Letter)
August 19, 2016: A two year long project of restoration has begun on the lookout structure. The first year the plan is maintain the lightning protection system, repair the foundation and replace windows and the door. The work will be done by volunteers and financed in part by a grant. The location dictates the necessity of using a helicopter to transport materials to the site and to remove the replaced parts.